Horsehill Vineyards | Cal Poly Pomona
Available at the Farm Store at Kellogg Ranch and The Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch.
Cal Poly Pomona’s latest boutique wine, Horsehill Vineyards Rossana Sparkling Wine, is available while supplies
last at the Farm Store at Kellogg Ranch and the Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch for $20 a bottle.
Rossana, named in homage to W.K. Kellogg’s stunning foundation Arabian mare, is a classically styled Brut Rosé.
Zinfandel from Cal Poly Pomona’s Horsehill Vineyards is lightly pressed to capture a nuance of color, all the while 
extracting the delicate cherry and strawberry fruit characters.
The wine’s bright mauve hue is accentuated with tiny bubbles, a crisp finish, and balanced with just a hint of sweetness. Master winemaker Jon McPherson of South Coast Winery made the wine on behalf of the university.
About the name and history:
Rossana, the mare, was one of the first horses Kellogg brought to the W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Ranch, which eventually became Cal Poly Pomona. She had a rose grey coat and nearly faultless conformation. Rossana’s beauty and excellent temperament made her popular with celebrity visitors to the Ranch. She was also one of Kellogg’s favorite mounts, known for her steadiness and dependability, and in his later years he rode her exclusively.
The Zinfandel grapes themselves are a living link to the viticultural heritage of the region. The grapes, which grow on campus, have been cultivated from cuttings from the historic De Ambrogio Ranch
in Rancho Cucamonga. Before the ranch was razed for development in 2001, third-generation vintner
Don Galleano
combed the fields and selected 400 grapevine cuttings, some of them nearly
100 years old, and donated
them to the university.
Read the press release for more details on Rossana.
Horsehill Vineyards Accolades:
Horsehill Vineyards wines have earned medals on three occasions. The 2008 rosé (sold out) won the Gold Medal, Best of Class in the Best Rosé Limited Production category at the 70th annual Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition. The 2008 Horsehill Vineyards Zinfandel received a bronze medal in the category of Limited Production Zinfandel from 2007 or Later. Additionally, the 2009 Zinfandel rosé (sold out) won a gold medal at the 71st annual Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition.
About Horsehill Vineyards:
Horsehill Vineyards is a partnership project between The Collins College of Hospitality Management, the College of Agriculture and South Coast Winery. These groups each lend different areas of expertise that result in the finished product.
The name Horsehill comes from the area on campus where a portion of the grapes are grown. The former horse pasture is now the location of The Collins College. The grapes are grown on a south-facing slope a few hundred yards from the college. Additional grapes are grown at AGRIscapes on a southeast-facing hillside.
Proceeds from the wine support a culinary garden, located near the student-managed and operated Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch. Fresh vegetables and herbs from the garden are incorporated into the dishes at the restaurant. The sustainable garden creates a valuable farm-to-table lesson for both hospitality management and agriculture students.
Take a look at the Horsehill Vineyards slideshow to see the project evolve from vine to wine.
Media Coverage:
“Rossana sparkling wine from Horsehill Vineyards, our drink of the week!” – OC Weekly “Drink of the Week” blog (April 19, 2013)
For more information contact Lisa McPheron, Director of Communications and External Relations for The Collins College.
